The Great Dandelion Coffee Experiment...

My husband and I are great for trying anything....especially when it comes to cooking and gardening!

My son Noah always called them wishing flowers...he always hated it when we mowed the lawn....bye bye wishing flowers!  Lawn maintenance aside, we all know how much people have grown to dislike the lowly little yellow flower. 

Wishing flowers in action!

This summer I was fortunate enough to get a hold of a copy of Susanna Moodie's novel "Roughing it in the Bush".  This woman wrote of her own experiences in the first hand regarding the settling of the Cobourg/Douro area of Hastings County (Peterborough for the sake of argument).  One of the best statements made in the book was "Necessity has truly been termed the mother of invention".  This became my mantra during my unemployment of the past year.

During the winter of 1835, a particularly scarce and difficult year, Mrs Moodie discovered that dandelion roots provided a better coffee than could be found in stores.  Now that was in the 1800's, prior to international trading on a large scale.  Juan Valdez's coveted beans were probably not in the store Mrs Moodie was shopping in.  Her description of the discovery and the process for procuring the drink was so interesting that we HAD to give it a try.  She mentions that dandelion coffee has the opposite effect of coffee beans, allowing the drinker to be calmer and more apt to sleep.

While digging up our parsnips, we were able to find a few dandelions that had survived in the warm fall weather this year.  The long, slender taproots are very similar to parsnips.  They were also all about 5-6 inches long.  We cleaned the taproots gently, as Susanna suggests, so we didn't scrub off the delicate brown skin that gives the drink the flavour.  Once cleaned, we laid the roots out to dry for 2 weeks in a warm spot on our counter top.  We then attempted the roasting.  There were no instructions in Mrs Moodie's book about the particulars...as she was roasting over a wood stove.  After having roasted our roots on 200 degrees F for about an hour, we ground the roots and straight into the coffee percolator.  Ches brewed the drink twice just in case.  Again, Mrs Moodie talked about brewing the drink on the wood stove until it was thick and dark like the coffee beverage, so we were trying to get that same consistency. 

Result:  If you've ever had the Celestial Seasonings "Sleepytime" Tea, you'll know what flavour to expect from your Dandelion Coffee.  It was very aromatic and floral. 

Things we learned:  Perhaps the next time we try this we'll skip the coffee pot and try the stove for the brewing.  Also, we have since discovered, in other resources, that the roasting should be done for 4 hours instead of one.  Note to self for the next trial!

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank Gayle, who loaned me the book in the first place, as well as Mrs Susanna Moodie herself for writing about her adventures, trials and tribulations as a testiment to the Canadian spirit.

Susanna Moodie 1803-1885

Eat yer Parsnips!

This is the perfect time of year for parsnips!  I know, I know...parsnips?  Seriously?

I never used to like parsnips...perhaps that was from being force fed the poor roots as a child.  Last year I got a Canadian Gardening issue with an article about growing parsnips and leaving them in the ground after the frost.  As the article suggested, they transformed into a different vegetable altogether. 



digging in the garden for the the last crop of the year....PARSNIPS!





My husband and I were up for an experiment...as most of our gardening has consisted of trial and error guess work.  We purchased the seeds and last year we grew our first crop of parsnips.  We Planted them during the May 24th weekend and left them alone basically until after the first major frost. (ie.  after the first morning we had to scrape the car windows off.)

The result:  amazingly sweet root veggies!  The parsnip has a mild nutty flavour, but they do lack in colour on the plate.  We have tried cooking the parsnip in a variety of ways.  For example, we boiled them and we roasted them.  I sauted them with oil and walnuts and garlic.  I finally decided the best way to eat a parsnip is to sneak it in.  I've hidden the savoury roots in sheppard's pie and squash soup. 

My favorite way to prepare the parsnip (by far) is in my roasted root vegetable dish.  Its made up of sweet potatoes, white potatoes, carrots, parsnips and a coarsely chopped onion.  Toss in oil and a pinch of kosher salt.  Roast at 400 degrees F uncovered for approx 30 min.  Check them half way through and toss, adding more salt if desired.

For storage you can do one of two methods.  Freezing or root cellaring.  A root cellar is something I deperately want to try.  Given the right conditions, I'm told, a parsnip can last in a root cellar until next spring!  The idea of storing food without using any fossil fuels is something I could really become fanatical about (especially after our last hydro bill!!!)

We dig up the parsnip by digging out the area next to the roots and working our way inward.  The parsnip root gets VERY deep, so you don't want to shove your shovel through the mid-section of the vegetable.  we knock off as much soil in the garden, and then again at the outside hose.  I scrub them off in the kitchen sink with the potato scrubber and then to the cutting board!  Peel and chop the root.  I have found that the larger the shunks are, the better for year round roasting.  Last year we chopped some smaller to slip into sheppard's pie....but the result was that they hardened when cooked.  Fill a large freezer bag 1/3 full.  Then flatten out and freeze.  You can add more later on, once the new ones are frozen too....but this method allows for freezer separation....instead of one massive clump of frozen parsnip.